[00:00] In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen. Our hearts are filled with joy today as we celebrate the glorious solemnity of St. Peter and St. Paul, these two apostles whose feast day are joined as one in their union, in their love for Christ, in their missionary spirit of spreading the gospel, and of their sacrifice in giving their lives for Jesus. St. Peter is called the Prince of the Apostles, St. Paul

[00:36] the Apostle to the Gentiles, and we can be inspired today by the example of these two apostles. First, we see that even though they had imperfections and human flaws, Peter having denied Jesus three times, Paul having been persecuting the Christians, we see that God's grace transformed them, the grace of Jesus Christ transformed their lives, that they became great saints, that even though they had failed, God's grace transformed them. And this is to

[01:13] inspire us that no matter how we have failed, our Lord Jesus Christ, His grace is greater than our failures and can transform us and make us great saints, make us great saints for His honor and glory. The apostles, it is estimated that they died between the years 64 and 67 under the emperor during the reign of Nero in Rome, and they gave their lives, Peter of course having been

[01:45] crucified upside down on Vatican Hill, and St. Paul having been beheaded with a sword, beheaded with a sword. And so these two apostles, who were great champions of the faith, gave the ultimate witness of their faith in their giving their lives for Jesus Christ, knowing that even in death, that their death was to enter them into the eternal glory of the reign of Christ

[02:18] Jesus, their love. And so we can ask these two apostles for today for the grace to have that same passionate love they had for Jesus, that same burning love for Jesus, that gave them the strength to bear so many trials and so many sufferings. We know that St. Paul had so many trials, being shipwrecked and beaten, and so many other episodes of his life were met with such suffering, but it never deterred him in his zeal for spreading the gospel. It never

[02:54] held him back, but even made him even more zealous in wanting to spread that gospel for Jesus Christ, and the same with St. Peter. So we ask these two apostles today for that same love they have, that same zeal, that same urgency they had in spreading the gospel for our Lord Jesus Christ, to bear and to give us the grace to bear with our sufferings patiently, as they bore so many sufferings with such great patience, and also that we may never be discouraged by our sins,

[03:26] our faults, but that like these two apostles, we may get back up and persevere through the sacrament of confession, persevering to become great saints for Jesus as they did. These two apostles, of course, are patrons of the city of Rome. In both of their, of course, St. Peter's remains are at St. Peter's Basilica. He who is the first pope, vicar of Christ on earth at St. Paul's, his beautiful basilica is known as St. Paul

[03:57] outside the walls where his remains are, near to the place where he also was martyred. We can ask these two saints today to help us in a special way to be renewed in our love for the Church and to be renewed in our zeal and our dedication in following Jesus Christ and spreading the gospel by our daily witness. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen.